Where will your school be a year from now?

Two years ago, a principal I’ll call Evelyn attended a free vision workshop over the summer. She left the workshop on fire with passion for her vision “100% of students will be at or above grade level in reading and math.”

She believed in her vision strongly and was excited to get started. She was confident that her school, which was currently at 52% proficient or above in reading and 37% proficient or above in math could get there.

She received multiple invitations to join Buildership? University during its final beta stages. But concerned about her budget and fearing that she had too much on her plate at the time, she said that she would love to join BU, but….

First, she wanted to help her teachers get back into the swing of things after spending nearly a year in remote learning during the covid shut-downs…

And, she wanted to finish hiring staff…

And, she wanted to get herself a little more organized first…

And, she wanted to get discipline issues under control…

So, she decided to wait. Initially, it was just a few months until the school year got under way.

Then, it was after the winter holidays.

Then, she wanted to get through the rest of the school year before she started.

Flash forward a year later...

Evelyn came to another free Vision workshop and soon broke out in tears. “I’m completely overwhelmed trying to figure this out and run my school,” she cried. “I believe so much in my vision, but I’m lost. I’m not getting anything done, my scores are dropping, and all I can think about is the time I’ve wasted.”

My heart broke for Evelyn because it didn’t have to be that way. You see, while her scores dropped, we have had so many principals inside of BU who were reporting huge gains (think 10% or higher growth in reading and math proficiency during covid or out-scoring every other school in their district on just about every single measure including attendance).

That could have been Evelyn too.

Instead, she wasted an entire year trying to get ready for BU when, had she joined when she first said she would, she would have spent the entire year using what she learned in BU to attract better staff members, grow her teachers, get herself organized, and eliminate the discipline issues altogether. And, instead of losing ground, she could have gained ground.

The same is true for you. Think about where you were a year ago. Are you still dealing with the same problems this year that you were struggling with last year? (Or worse, are you still dealing with last year’s problems PLUS a new set of problems this year?)

Now think about where you want to be this time next year.Do you want to still be struggling against the same challenges?

It really comes down to this: You can either spend that year trying to get your head above water so that you are finally “ready” to join Buildership University -- only to find that you are in the exact same place you are right now (or even worse).

Or, you can join BU and get the support and mentoring you need to eliminate your current challenges and make significant progress towards your vision.It really is that simple.

When you join BU, one of the first things we do is help you get focused on what really matters. We also help you eliminate the things that are getting in the way of your true purpose. Then, we use a series of 90-day cycles to help you finally solve your biggest challenges so that they no longer get in the way of your success.

That’s why the Builders regularly post wins like:

-Scott who completely eliminated a HUGE problem with students and cell phones in the first 90 days of the school year.

-Sue who, in spite of over 60% of her students being labeled chronically absent (missing 15 or more days of school) last year due to covid, still posted a 10% gain in reading and an 11% gain in math proficiency.

-Kevin who managed to show a 10% increase in the number of students who were proficient or above in the district-wide literacy assessment during covid lock-downs.

-Tosha-Lyn who doubled the number of students scoring proficient or above in reading and quintupled (that’s 5x’s) the number of students who were proficient or above in math when just about every other school in her very large district showed losses.

-Adrian who scored at the top of her district in all but 2 measures last year.

-John who had the only school in his district to earn an “A” grade this year.

I could go on. Wins like these are pretty commonplace inside of BU. In fact, we even have a dedicated “Wins” thread inside our private community because people are experiencing these kinds of wins every single week.

You could be experiencing these same kinds of wins in your school.

The choice is up to you.

A year from now, do you still want to be dealing with the same challenges that are currently holding you back? Or, would you like to be celebrating your huge wins?-